Photos: The best country-themed movies

CaptionThe best country-themed movies

Scott Garfield / Sony-Screen Gems

By Ann Powers and Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Country music was born of hard luck lives and heartbreak, with its singers as raw and roughed up as the songs. Its early singers were the stuff of legends — unashamed of humble beginnings, dogged by tragedy, uneasy with fame, often in search of...

By Ann Powers and Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Country music was born of hard luck lives and heartbreak, with its singers as raw and roughed up as the songs. Its early singers were the stuff of legends — unashamed of humble beginnings, dogged by tragedy, uneasy with fame, often in search of... (Scott Garfield / Sony-Screen Gems)

This savage, unflinchingly humane satire of the Music City hustle as part of the larger American pop dream is among Altmans riskiest and most entertaining masterworks. Its huge cast wanders the road to and from stardom, wallowing in corn and pathos as profundity lurks nearby. The great...

This savage, unflinchingly humane satire of the Music City hustle as part of the larger American pop dream is among Altmans riskiest and most entertaining masterworks. Its huge cast wanders the road to and from stardom, wallowing in corn and pathos as profundity lurks nearby. The great... (Paramount Pictures)

Based on country queen Loretta Lynn's autobiography, this film is just like an old country song — deep, but built from humble materials. Astoundingly plainspoken performances by Oscar winner Sissy Spacek as Lynn and Tommy Lee Jones as her husband, Mooney, also make it one of the great films...

Based on country queen Loretta Lynn's autobiography, this film is just like an old country song — deep, but built from humble materials. Astoundingly plainspoken performances by Oscar winner Sissy Spacek as Lynn and Tommy Lee Jones as her husband, Mooney, also make it one of the great films... (Universal Studios)

This mostly forgotten little shocker is like Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell" transported to central Alabama, with Rip Torn in the role of his life as a minor country star possessed by terrifying appetites and the haunting conviction that his luck is running out. Like "Mean Streets," "The Bad...

This mostly forgotten little shocker is like Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell" transported to central Alabama, with Rip Torn in the role of his life as a minor country star possessed by terrifying appetites and the haunting conviction that his luck is running out. Like "Mean Streets," "The Bad... (Warner Home Video)

It's not a country music film, really, and some consider it too arch. But this surreal Homeric romp helped transform folk music into "Americana" and renewed interest in crucial subgenres, especially bluegrass. Its T Bone Burnett-produced soundtrack won an album of the year Grammy and spawned...

It's not a country music film, really, and some consider it too arch. But this surreal Homeric romp helped transform folk music into "Americana" and renewed interest in crucial subgenres, especially bluegrass. Its T Bone Burnett-produced soundtrack won an album of the year Grammy and spawned... (Melinda Sue Gordon)